“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump proclaimed. For his billionaire backers, it has already begun.
Trump's inauguration drew several business and tech CEOs, including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew.
A who's who of tech titans, business magnates, and global elites attended President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, including Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images.
The world could soon see its first trillionaires, with five individuals projected to reach the milestone within the next decade if current trends persist, according to Oxfam's annual inequality report released Sunday reported CNN Business.
A gathering of the world’s wealthiest individuals attended the inauguration, and in a telling gesture, the tech billionaires were seated in front of Trump’s nominated Cabinet.
President Donald Trump's inauguration was packed with the ultra-rich, some seated closer to the incoming president than his incoming cabinet. The personal net worth of just three of these people combined (Mark Zuckerberg,
The LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton titan had prime seating near former Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama.
A shift seems to be happening for those selling Trump-branded real estate as well. In his first go-around as president, his name was considered so objectionable that six residential buildings on Riverside Drive went to great effort and expense (costs were estimated at as high as $1 million per building) to remove it from their facades.
Mr Trump is more transactional than presidents before him, which increases the risk of cronyism and self-dealing. But America’s economy, including its technology industry, is too unwieldy and dynamic to petrify into an actual oligarchy, whatever diplomats and departing presidents say. ■
Cabinet members, governors, and long-serving public servants are positioned in rows behind the tech billionaires, with only family seated ahead of them.